Friday, August 30, 2024

A whole lotta stuff

Howdy! Here we are on the cusp of saying goodbye to another summer! Bye bye! I am looking forward to cooler temps. Right now outside, the wind has come up and a thunderstorm is trying to form. I am watching Catching Killers on Netflix, a recent new addiction! Last week, I watched Worlds Worst Ex's and Worlds Worst Roommate; wow! These shows really get your attention but they're not good to watch at night!

Let's get to the stitching. I have progress, finishes, and September plans. Let's go!

Since the last post, I put down the Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler and picked up a WIP...

Sorry for the crooked photo. This is Unwrap the Joy - Santa '12 by Lizzie Kate. I started this more than a few years ago. It's in 28ct Amber, the called for fabric with a mix of called for and substituted floss. Soooo..... Santa's beard is stitched with white Wisper thread by Rainbow Gallery and all other white is DMC Blanc. I don't have the Wisper so I thought well, what about a very light grey? Nope, it just won't look good because his beard is white and if I used white DMC, his beard would blend into the white of his stocking cap above his eyes! The finish I was hoping for is not going to happen. I'm going to order the Wisper so it'll be a finish for September. I still have more stitching to do at the bottom.

The next WIP I've worked on is my Sunday Stitch. A couple months ago, I think I said Dogs Declaration will be my Sunday Stitch. I finally brought it out two Sundays ago and have some progress to show...

Everything to the right of 'Life' is what I stitched. The middle of that large flower on the top border is the middle of this piece. It's a good size but it's nice to stitch on it. I'm using Valdani floss which is the called for.

I also managed to finish a couple of things too. First is Kringle's Coal...

The fabric is a tad lighter than my picture shows. It sure is cute. The white snowflakes show up better in real life though. I get a kick out of Santa's outfit!

Next finish is my Deer Cup by Shannon Christine. I just love it...

My fabric is a little more blue. I basically lost all the floss for this! What else is new! Lol. Since I used DMC substitutes for a few overdyed flosses, I could fill in a few areas. Couple days later I found the bag of flosses. The white lacey border looked hard but because all sides were mirror image, it wasn't bad at all. On Shannon Christine's FB group, I see quite a few people stitching these mugs on one piece of fabric with an additional border in between each mug. I want to make mine cubes. I have 6 more mug patterns to go and they all have the lacey white border. I believe I'll take a small rest from the border! 😜 

I have two new starts planned for September. Here's the first...

Sweet Autumn Vine. This design uses only 4 colors and it's on 36ct fabric, a mystery color. Can't wait to start this. 

Next is another Christmas ornament from the 2014 JCS ornament magazine...

The called for fabric is 40ct but I'm using a 32ct so it'll be a little bigger than shown. 

And now, the FO parade continues!


Early Witches by The Primitive Hare. This piece is probably my most coveted finish. I'd like to have it framed but not sure of what kind, black frame or dk brown frame? Skinny smooth or a gothic look? 

Next up is...

By Sheepish Designs called Red House or Little Red House. Loaded with satin stitches, the uneven border was fun to stitch. I really like this designer and I have more charts from her that I'd like to start some day.


Town of Halloween! Designed by The Primitive Hare, of course! This might now be a stand alone pattern but mine I stitched from a JCS Halloween issue. Eventually, I'll have this one framed too. 


And the last for today is this one, not sure of the name but I do know it's from a JCS magazine. I stitched it on an evenweave. It's just perfect for Autumn.

That's it for the stitching.

If you didn't know, I'm 60. I am seriously considering early retirement in 1 and a half years. I have a few bills that need to be paid off first. I want to be able to still do things, travel a little, and enjoy myself while I still can instead of waiting for 67 and a higher SS check. One never knows what could happen waiting for 67 to come! But I look forward to leaving my physical job for something part time that's easier on me. Wish me luck!

On a sad note, my 89 year old uncle passed away last week and we are heading to his funeral tomorrow. He fell in the shower and had a brain bleed and never recovered. All that's left of my mother's siblings are my 95 year old uncle and my 81 year old aunt. 

So that is what's going on in my corner of the world. I am starting my 4 day weekend today. Stitching wise, I'll get back to the Lizzie Kate WIP, and actually FFO a few things before I go back to work on Tuesday. Stay tuned!

I also wanted to recommend a flosstuber I've begun watching. She's a Brit and she goes by Flossy Grows and Sews. She likes Halloween and she stitches the variety of designs like me. Go check her out!

Take care and we'll visit again soon🙋🏻‍♀️

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Don't start all the things!

I overcame my overzealous-ness to start everything! Once I found the graph for Jenny Bean, I dedicated my time to her....
I enjoyed stitching the alphabet with all its different colors, fonts and sizes. I don't want to finish this quickly though as these bigger Halloween pieces are meant to be picked up now and then. However, I've already kitted another scary piece to stitch after Jenny is finished. Wait til you see that! 

My last post I mentioned looking for a Christmas ornament in a JCS ornament magazine. I decided to start a few that had fabric tucked into the pages next to the graph. The magazine is this one...
You can kind of see fabric hanging out of the pages there on the right. Last night's start was Kringle's Coal, designed by Plum Street Samplers...

On a leftover piece of WDW Beige. My progress is 3 hours of stitching! I've stitched this once before for an exchange gift. I would like to have 2 other ornaments from this issue finished before the end of this month because Halloween smalls beckon for September! While everyone or most everyone is doing September Samplers, I'm stitching Halloween😁

That is it for progress. 

Next is a chart I found while perusing the Blue Whale Designs on eBay. Take a look!
Look familiar?! It was in a lot of 3 of this designers charts. So I bought the lot for not very much. The same tall skinny Santa like the other that I finished. I want to stitch the whole sampler on the left and the small one at upper right. I'll stitch them in WDW Straw linen so the whites show up. It was a good find!

Be sure to click on pictures to see them better.

Parade time again. Continuing with the medium sizes...

Hard to see, wow! This is Moonlight by LHN, stitched with 1 silk floss from Belle Soie. The fabric might be natural maybe. A fun stitch.

A freebie by Hello from Liz Matthews, stitched on my favorite WDW Straw using Brethren Blue GAST floss. I believe you can find this on her website to download.

Three stars by La D Da found in a Christmas ornament JCS magazine. They're to be cut and mounted on mat board and then tied together with rusty bells. 

I wish the FFO bug would find me so I can sit and final finish everything!🤦🏻‍♀️

Next up is...
Christmas Basket by Threadwork Primitives. The fabric is a pretty silvery-pink color which is barely showing up in my picture. It's slated to become a pin pillow.

I love this! I love all my stitchings but this is a favorite. I think it's called Christmas Ride and it's from a Punchneedle and Primitive Stitching magazine. I used PTP Ale and substituted GAST Endive for the gray color in Christmas. The Endive disappeared into the fabric. That's Rudolph at the end with his requisite red nose!

And that's the end of this posts installment of my FO parade😊

Last weekend my daughter and I went to Phoenix to watch the Arizona Cardinals in training camp...
and boy was it hot! It was 107 when we walked in and 113 when we came out 2-2 1/5 hours later. It takes your breath away! Drinks and food were pretty expensive with Nachos being $7 and they were the kind that you could buy at a gas/convenience store for $3.99! Beer in a 12oz cup was $7!! It was fun though and the perfect temps inside the stadium.

I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest and eating pizza while listening to it thunder outside. 

I think I had more to talk about but my memory being what it is🤷🏻‍♀️I wish my doc would put me back on thyroid pills but she says my numbers are good. So I'll continue to have brain fog and be forgetful. My daughter is going to be 30 this coming February! How can that be?! Time sure flies doesn't it?!

And with that I'll say adieu. Hope you're all fine where you're at and that it's beginning to cool down. 

Keep on stitching!